


Post Mortem

by IsadiahInDisguise



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Afterlife, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Cute, F/M, Final Chapter Is Crack, Gen, Hedwig is the best, Post-Canon, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:53:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsadiahInDisguise/pseuds/IsadiahInDisguise
Summary: After his death, Severus Snape finds himself standing alone in a field of beautiful and familiar white flowers, but the only Lily he can see is the one smiling sadly from a few feet away.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape
Kudos: 7





	1. Final Lily

**Author's Note:**

> "Someday these walls will speak;  
> The floor beneath you creek  
> To call my name;  
> Here in my web of dreams,  
> My whispers turn to screams  
> And place the blame...  
> ...For this freedom,  
> I have given all I had;  
> For this darkness,  
> I gave my light;  
> For this wisdom,  
> I have lost my innocence;  
> Take my petals  
> And cover me with the night!"  
> -Rose Red, written and performed Emilie Autumn

Death was painless. Well, after the poison and blood loss did its work, that is, but it was still far swifter and less jarring than Severus Tobias Snape had expected. One minute, he was staring into Potter's--Harry's-- _her_ eyes, slumped on the floor pathetically with a gaping wound in his neck, and then the next he was standing in a peaceful field, blinking slowly and surprisingly unfazed by the abrupt change of scenery. Beautiful white flowers- _her_ flowers, the ones that represented _her_ purity and beauty and calming movements and name-blew in a nonexistent breeze.

Then Severus regained his senses and let out a noise of annoyance. "Somehow, I thought Hell would have been less... _pretty_ ," he finished with a snarky sneer, giving the flowers a glare that was reduced by the tender feelings they induced within him. His sneer froze when there was a soft laugh behind him. A feminine laugh. A _familiar_ laugh.

Before Severus could turn, a slim hand, skin nearly as pale as his own but also a noticeably healthier shade, rested itself gently on his upper arm. "Oh, Severus," an equally familiar and soft voice said with a tenderness he had not heard in ages, "your humor has never changed."

For a moment, Severus just stared with wide eyes at the hand on his arm before whirling around, mouth opening slightly as he saw the hand's owner. Standing a mere arm’s length away, deep crimson hair falling gently around her face, a light dusting of freckles across her nose, a small smile on her soft lips, and those damning emerald eyes, was the one person he never thought he would see again.

It took a few moments for Severus's voice to work, and once it did, he was barely able to croak out a slightly strangled, " _Lily._ "

The woman, Lily Evans-Potter, smiled a bit more, but now Severus could see the sadness in her eyes. Carefully, hesitantly, as if doubting himself, Severus raised his hand to hover over her cheek. When she made no move to pull away, and indeed maintained eye contact, he made the final movement to touch her skin.

Eyes drifting shut, Severus heard Lily sigh quietly in what he possibly deluded himself into thinking was contentment, focusing on the feel of too-soft skin under his hand. Again, the name of the one he so loved for so long crossed his lips: "Lily..."

"Yes," she whispered back, prompting Severus to open his eyes again and spot the tears in her eyes. "I've been waiting for you, Severus. To thank you."

In an instant, the moment of tenderness was broken on Severus's end as he pulled his hand away like a Basilisk had lunged toward it with fangs bared. Anger instantly rose within him, and he found his Occlumency useless to stop it.

"Thank me?" he repeated, unable to believe it. Then, again, anger rising, Severus once more said, " _THANK me_? For what?

"For joining that monster? For giving him the prophecy?! For believing he would spare you--selfishly asking for your own safety--or perhaps for leading him to your house and life!?! For condemning you to--to--"

Severus's wide gestures, which had begun at the beginning of his speech, suddenly stopped, and he was only faintly horrified to find himself tearing up. Roughly, rubbed his face with his hand, trying to shove the emotions away with little luck. Again, that hand-that accursed and beloved hand-gently rested itself on his bicep, this time a little more firmly than before.

"To death?" Lily gently supplied. Severus refused to react other than the slightest twitch. A sigh escaped Lily, a sigh of sadness and regret, and suddenly Severus stiffened when he felt her other hand gently touch the forearm of the hand covering his face in the same spot where he knew the Dark Mark lay for the past twenty years of his life.

"Oh, Severus," Lily began quietly, slowly lowering the arm. Her face came into view, knowing and sad, but regretful, too. "Oh my dear, dear Severus. As wonderful as you have always been at potions and spellcasting and everything else you set your mind to, the one thing you could never control was your tendency to take all blame and shoulder it on yourself."

Severus blinked once, flabbergasted, as Lily gave him another sad smile. "Severus, I never blamed you. Not once. You came for me*, didn't you? As soon as you realized what happened, you came to try and save me--to try and save me and my son. And even after I was gone, you swore to protect my son, and while I don't approve of how you've treated him" (Severus suddenly felt ashamed as he never quite had before) "you have kept that promise. And, you know what?"

Lily smiled a bit more brightly, leaning closer to Severus's face, her grip on his arms preventing him from pulling awkwardly away. "That's why I want to thank you. Because you continued to care even after I died, to protect my only son, my darling Harry, who only reminded you of your past mistakes whenever you saw him and was unknowingly ungrateful towards your actions. So thank you, Severus. Thank you for being the man I so very love."

And with that, Lily leaned forward and kissed Severus, who felt more alive in this place of death than he ever had at home. And when Lily pulled away, eyes shining with love and joy, for the first time in quite some time, Severus Snape the greasy git and feared Potions Master couldn't help but smile.


	2. Meanwhile...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Sirius's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You play the victim very well;  
> You build your self-indulgent hell!  
> You wanted someone to understand you,  
> Well, be careful what you wish for...  
> ...You've got a fancy turn of phrase;  
> You set your trap,  
> You made your plays;  
> You're so fond of games,  
> You must never lose!  
> Funny how the only one in your bed is you!"  
> -I Know Where You Sleep, written and performed Emilie Autumn

Far away from the small field of lilies, one James Potter was _not_ pouting, thank you very much.

"Shut up, Sirius," muttered the brunette irritably when his best friend in both life and death Sirius Black once more pointed out with much glee how "Snivillus" was getting more attention from James's wife in the span of about ten minutes than James himself had in the last two years. "Besides, you hate him, too."

Sirius paused for a moment in his cheerful chanting, actually looking thoughtful, before plopping down next to his friend with a shrug. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p' rather absently and giving a lopsided grin when James shot his friend a wide-eyed, incredulous look.

"Surely you're not serious!?!"

Sirius rolled his eyes at the possibly unintentional pun, slightly sick of it after more than thirty years of jokes, before calmly responding to his long-time friend. "James, I just spent the last year watching the guy torturing himself for being even slightly harsh with students while he was most able to do what he wished in form of punishment. That kinda changes things. Besides," Sirius gave another grin that looked dangerous and downright deranged, "it annoys the hell out of you that I think this way, so why wouldn't I do it?"

James huffed. "Git."

Sirius laughed. "Thank you."

"Well, he's not fooling me," James said with a glare as Lily gently grabbed both of Severus's arms. "He's just trying to take my Lily-Flower away again, like when we were kids. I'm watching him..."

Sirius remained silent for a moment. "Dude, chill," he eventually said. "We're dead, and Lily loves you. There's not much that-"

Cutting himself off, the dog animagus watched with eyes nearly as wide as his best mate's when Lily suddenly gave Snape a long, passionate kiss. On the lips.

There was another brief silence, this one considerably more tense.

"I'm thinking we hit Fred up for some of his wonderful inventions and test them out on Snape," deadpanned Sirius.

"I'm going to kill that greasy-haired ba-!!!"

James was cut off when Sirius whacked him over the head. "This fic is K-rated, idiot. Mentioning 'down there' in the first chapter and me saying the 'h-word' is already pushing it."

For a long moment, James stared at Sirius with just as blank an expression as someone who had his soul sucked out by Dementers. "...what are you on about?" he asked. Sirius blinked back in response, suddenly looking confused.

"You know, I have no idea."

There was an awkward pause.

"So, Fred normally spends his days where, again?" James asked, changing the subject.

Yup, revenge was going to be sweet. Especially since the chagrined Potter had eternity to work on it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written in 2011. Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net


	3. Bird of Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hedwig is Not Pleased

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Did you plan this all along?  
> Did you care if it was wrong?...  
> ...Misery loves company,  
> And company loves more!  
> More loves everybody else,   
> But hell is others...!"  
> -Misery Loves Company, written and performed by Emilie Autumn

In the peaceful space known simply as Behind the Veil, few remained behind when the chance for a happy afterlife and possible rebirth presented itself, and those who did normally had someone or something they wanted to ensure done. For instance, when Salazaar Slytherin died, he stayed Behind the Veil just long enough to ensure his house would not suffer from his supposed betrayal before he moved On.

But that didn't explain why in the freakin' name of Merlin this _stupid bird_ stayed behind!!!

"Bird!" snarled Severus not for the first time and certainly not the last, slashing with his hand at the air over his shoulder. The owl that had been perched there casually grooming his hair with her beak moments before flew just out of reach and gave him a reproachful hoot and a baleful glare. Severus glared back.

"Don't get huffy, you insolent chicken," he snarked, earning a louder hoot from the snowy white owl and a snap at his face with a sharp beak, " _you're_ the one who refuses to leave me alone! Now go!"

The owl seemed to roll her eyes before completely ignoring Severus's orders and, furthermore, flapping to purposefully sit _on top of his head_. Severus felt his eye twitch and he made a noise of disgust before throwing his hands in his air in defeat.

"I give up! I've been working for three bloody days" ' _I think'_ "to try and get you literally out of my hair, but you're such an insolent, dunderheaded chicken that you utterly and irrefutably refuse every time I try!!"

The owl pulled sharply on one of Severus's long hairs for that before carefully putting it back into place, leaning forward to lock large golden eyes on black ones with a look of smug victory.

"Hoooo," she cooed with a slight flap of her wings before pulling back and settling more comfortably on his head.

Severus once more felt his eyebrow twitch, this time twice.

"Bird problem, Snivillus?" an annoyingly cheerful and downright smug voice asked from behind the Potions Master. A migraine that didn't actually exist began to pound not-too-subtly behind Severus's eyes and he pinched the bridge of his nose with closed eyes, taking a few deep breaths before opening them again and turning to face his long-time-enemy with a sneer.

"Black," he said coldly to the other wizard, who tilted his head with a smirk in place, "at this moment, I am not at _all_ against ending your afterlife with my own hands."

Sirius raised his hands in a sign of surrender despite his continued smirk. "Fine, fine. Besides, I don't think your bird-friend would like it if I kept doing that. She's doing quite the wonderful impression of your glare right now..."

The owl hooted and fluffed up her feathers with pride.

Severus twitched. AGAIN.

"That's it!" snapped Severus, suddenly lunging towards Sirius with hands outstretched. Sirius let out a yelp of shock and the bird flew off his head, hooting in apparent amusement as the two fully-grown men tussled on the ground like a couple of fighting toddlers.

Not too far away, James looked torn between laughing, crying, and taking pictures as Lily palmed her face with a sigh and the owl flew to her shoulder instead.

"Hedwig, you are nothing but trouble, dear," the only woman in the area other than the bird said with a shake of her head. The snowy owl hooted again, this time with amusement, and fluffed up her feathers.

Even after death, the owl Familiar known as Hedwig was glad to know that she was getting revenge on her Human's behalf, especially when she thought of how proud he would be of her when he joined them.........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written in 2011. Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net

**Author's Note:**

> * After writing this line, I suddenly realized it was a direct quote from Advent Children--a wonderful movie--which I did not mean to put in...but Lily didn't want me to change it! Silly girl. So here I’m going to put credit where credit is due and thank Aerith/Aeris of Advent Children for her wonderful words to Cloud.
> 
> Originally written in 2010. Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net


End file.
